Girl Meets Bus Trip
by Bubblebean98
Summary: This fanfic is set just before Girl Meets Ski Lodge, on the bus to Mount Sun Lodge. Maya is sick of the triangle, she's watching as it's destroying their friendship and she cant watch it a moment longer. Deciding to confront Lucas about it, will she get more than she bargained for? LUCAYA :)
1. The Fall

**Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets world, nor any of the characters used.**

Maya walked up to Lucas, a small smile on her face, however her eyes looked incredibly sad "Hey Huckleberry, mind If I sit?" She asked, gesturing to the empty bus seat beside him.

He nodded, pulling his bag off the seat and throwing it on the floor "Zay will be back in a minute." He warned her, a little anxious about being left alone with one of the girls he liked.

"Doubt it." She smiled mischievously "I persuaded him to sit next to Sarah." She laughed, peering over her seat as she watched Zay TRY to flirt with her classmate.

"How?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at her mischievous smirk.

"I may have told him she liked him." She said softly, trying to hold in her laughter, but that was quickly bought to a halt.

"Maya!" Lucas playfully slapped her arm, chuckling as he watched his friend "Actually that reminds me." He frowned.

"What?" Maya whined, putting in her headphones as she tried to drown Lucas out, knowing full well what he was about to say.

"Why aren't you sitting with Riley?" He asked, looking at her, a little concerned. Maya and Riley were best friends, there wasn't anyone else that Maya would rather sit next to on a 4-hour bus trip, so why was she sitting with Lucas?

"She won't shut up about the triangle." Maya admitted, avoiding his green eyed gaze.

"Oh." He exclaimed, understanding why she wanted to move.

"That's all your gonna say, oh?" She sighed, a little irritated by his reaction.

"Well what do you want me to say?" He retorted.

"I want you to decide." She raised her voice, blushing as she realised that everyone probably just heard her.

"Maya, you know I can't do that." He whispered, looking into her deep crystal blue eyes.

"Why not?" She pushed, getting fed up with her and Riley having to make all the decisions, it was tearing their friendship apart, Riley promised her it wouldn't, but she could feel it, she could feel them drifting apart, competing with each other over some boy "You know what, I don't care anymore." She sighed, standing up to walk back over to Riley, she might have been aggravating her about the triangle but she wasn't as bad as Lucas.

As she grabbed her bag from the overhead lockers, she felt a hand on her arm, she looked down and noticed Lucas looking up at her, holding on to her arm as he gestured for her to sit back down, but she just sighed "NO." She shouted "I can't do this Lucas." She asserted.

Maya was about to walk away when she heard Lucas' voice "I don't wanna hurt either of you." He admitted, at least that was something, he had reassured her that he cared about both of them.

She walked over and sat back next to him, her head down as she spoke "But you're hurting me." She said, a little tearfully. He noticed her crying and lifted her head up with his fingers "Maya, listen." He spoke softly, staring into her beautiful blue eyes; Lucas could get lost in her eyes for days, he loved how her eyes were blue and grey, but never at the same time "I love you." He stated, not a hint of irony in his voice, Maya wasn't sure what to say, apart from Riley, none of them had ever mentioned love, they had just told each-other that they were in-like. But then he continued "But I like Riley too, I care about both of you." He admitted.

"Do you really think I want to hurt Riley?" She whispered angrily, glancing over at her sunshiny friend peering out the window with nothing but a frown on her face.

"Of course I don't." He put his hand on her shoulder for reassurance, but she just shrugged him off.

They were silent for a while until Lucas spoke up "Maya, can I ask you a question." He looked at her seriously.

"If you must." She sighed, fiddling with her earbuds.

"When did you start to like me?" He asked, staring at her as he waited for an answer.

"What?" She asked, knowing full well what she had just been asked.

"You know what I said Maya." He said firmly.

"Sorry, why do I feel like I'm on trial here?" She said defensively, a little offended by Lucas' sudden question.

"You're not." He replied.

"You answer it then." She smiled triumphantly, proud of herself for putting the question back onto him, although she hadn't expected an answer, it was just her way of avoiding her feelings for him.

"Fine, you really wanna know?" He asked, a little surprised by her comeback, he thought he had finally done it, he thought he had cornered Maya Hart into admitting her feelings.

"Yeah, I do." She smiled, waiting for his response.

"On the subway." He admitted.

Maya burst out laughing, she had never believed in love at first sight, and now Lucas was telling her he fell for her on the subway; they had literally dated and split up in 10 seconds, and now he was telling her that's when he knew he liked her "The subway?" She asked, biting her tongue to hold in her laughter.

"Why is that funny?" He asked, a playful voice, but in reality, he was a little offended.

"I'm sorry." She stopped laughing, realising she had annoyed him.

"It's okay." He smiled "Anyway, you asked me, I answered, so now it's your turn." He reminded her.

"You know, Riley looks kinda lonely, I'm gonna go and sit with her again." She said, standing up to walk back over to her friend.

"Maya." Lucas reprimanded, giving her a look "You have to answer the question." He said, grabbing her hand for the second time today.

"No I don't." She said defensively, shaking his hand off her as she held onto the back of someone's seat for support as the bus turned from one way to the other, bending around the winding mountain roads.

"Ok, maybe not." He conceded "But were not allowed to walk up and down the bus at the minute." Lucas looked at her with concern, she was small, smaller than most of the class, if you forget about Yogi, and she could easily topple over.

"Huckleberry, when have the rules stopped me?" She mocked, continuing her journey to the front of the bus as Lucas called her back to sit down, or at least hold onto something; like usual, she ignored him.

"Maya, listen to Lucas, sit back down." Cory instructed her firmly. He stood up to send Maya back to her seat but Topanga just pulled him back down "Topanga, what are you doing." He asked, a little frustrated with his wife.

"Cory, if you get up, everyone else will think it's okay." She explained "Do you really want to deal with THAT?" She asked, gesturing to the number of children that were on the bus, all sat behind him, watching as they waited for him to break the rules.

"No, I guess not." He responded, strapping his seat belt back over his chest.

Maya was almost there, she had almost reached Riley's seat when there was a big crash, everyone went forward, being held back by their seatbelts, apart from one girl, Maya Hart, the shortest in the school, she got thrown backwards, her body slamming against the back of the bus as it made full impact with the truck in front.

 **Author Note: Hey guys, thanks for reading. Yes, I know it's yet another fanfic from me where Maya gets hurt and I'm sorry but I just love the drama. Is that weird? I don't think it's weird, better than writing M rated fics, if you know what I mean.**

 **Anyway, I understand most of you don't read this far, but if you are still reading then give yourself a cookie as a award, you are loyal fans :)**

 **Please COMMENT/REVIEW :D**


	2. Smoke and Fire

**Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets world, nor any of the characters used.**

Everyone watched as the world seemed to go into slow motion, the short blonde being thrown across the vehicle and landing in a heap on the floor, falling unconscious as her head hit the back window.

Lucas ran to her "Maya!" He yelled; Lucas was about to pick her up when Cory stopped him.

"Lucas, no." He warned, holding his hand in front of the teenager "You could hurt her, you have to wait for the ambulance." But there was no time, a fire had already started at the front, and although Josh and Topanga had evacuated everyone out the bus, including Riley, with some restraining, Maya was badly hurt and they didn't have time to wait for an ambulance.

"SHES ALREADY HURT!" Lucas yelled, barging past Cory as he scooped up Maya, burning the two of them as he carried her out, Cory quickly following after him.

As the class, Riley included, watched Maya being carried out of the flames, Zay and Farkle noticed her jacket had caught alight down her sleeve. Quickly they ran to Lucas, the small girl in his arms, taking off their coats and smothering the flames.

Cory had no idea what to do, he had been trained in first aid as a requirement to be a Middle School teacher but this was way above his pay grade, his class had just been in a bus crash, Maya, his best friends' daughter, was seriously hurt and was clearly burnt. Quickly, he ran to his family, seeing nothing more important than making sure Riley and Topanga were okay, but Riley didn't care, she ran to Lucas, seeing Maya in his arms, burnt and broken. And then Cory heard his daughter yelling something that he wouldn't soon forget.

"DAD, MAYA'S NOT BREATHING!" She screamed, holding her best friends' hand as Lucas laid her on the side of the freeway.

Josh ran over, hearing those words and running through the students now all circling Maya on the side of the road. "She's right." He declared, seeing her lifeless form for himself as everyone finally made an opening for him to scoot through and see to Maya.

As Josh made his way to help Maya, Topanga and Cory tried to organize the students, pulling everyone back and telling them to all remain together whilst they awaited an ambulance.

Quickly he undid the zip on Maya's, now burnt, jacket, exposing her blue flannel shirt and stationary chest; immediately he started chest compressions, but was quickly stopped by Lucas "Get off her!" Lucas yelled, aggressively pulling Josh back.

Josh squared up to Lucas, he had dealt with people like him at NYU, and they were older, so no way was he going to let some 9th grader push him around "Do you want her to die, Lucas?" He said bluntly, rage coursing through his body "Because that's what will happen if you don't let me near her." He raised his voice, giving Lucas a quick shove back before returning to Maya.

Hearing these words made Riley freak out, which of course made Cory freak out "Josh!" Cory shouted at his younger brother, getting agitated with the fact that Maya's life was now in the hands of his 18-year old brother and there was nothing else he could do but wait.

"Wait a minute." Josh stopped.

"What?" Cory asked, a little confused, trying to go a little closer to Maya but Topanga held him back, knowing Cory would freak out if he saw Maya like that, she already had and it wasn't a pleasant site. The small girls hair tangled with blood, visible cuts on her face from splinters of glass, but worst of all, an image that she could never take back, an image that she didn't want her husband nor her daughter to see, Maya laying on the floor, dead, those words coming out of Riley's mouth like a curse "MAYA'S NOT BREATHING!" Topanga replayed the words over and over again in her head as she tried to keep the rest of the class calm, Cory included.

"Shut up, Cory." He shouted, getting stressed out with the situation, he was barely a kid himself and now Maya's life was in his hands? Josh once again hovered his ear over Maya's face, placing his fingers around her wrist as he listened for a sign of life "I think I've got a pulse." He said suddenly, his eyes sparkling with triumph as he held the unconscious blonde's hand.

There was nothing they could do after that, it was too dangerous to move her again, they just had to wait for the ambulance to arrive. As they waited for the ambulance they all stood there in silence, watching as Maya slept on the side of the road, but she wasn't sleeping, she was still fighting for her life, at any second she could just slip away from them again. Josh couldn't take that risk, he sat there beside her, holding her hand, his fingers around her wrist as he felt her weak pulse under his fingertips; the only life line she had.

Her lips were starting to turn blue from the cold, but they couldn't even zip back up her coat, her burns were too severe and no one wanted to risk the possibility of giving her an infection; she had burns all up down the left side of her face, running around her ear and to her neck. Her left arm covered and her chest too; they had happened when Lucas carried her through the flames, her coat had caught alight and the cheap material melted into her skin. Lucas had burns too, but it was mainly just his hands as he had a flame retardant coat and he got out the fire quickly; but Maya, even when she was out the fire, her coat was alight, burning her soft flesh underneath.

At last, the ambulances came, instantly the paramedics noticed Maya by the side of the road, Josh kneeling next to her, holding her hand, his fingers wrapped around her wrist and Riley opposite, holding her best friends hand like if she even let go for a second, Maya would slip from her reach again. No, not again, Riley had almost lost her once today, she wasn't going to witness that again.

Josh and Riley had to be pulled away from Maya, well, Riley anyway, Josh understood why he had to go, it was so the paramedics could help Maya but Riley was too upset to really know what was going on "No, let me see her!" She yelled tearfully, being pulled back by her uncle. Josh finally dragged Riley away, she refused to go back to her parents, she was too mad at them, she had heard Topanga telling Cory to sit down when he tried to get Maya back in her seat, and after what happened that made her angry.

* * *

Not as angry as Lucas, though, as soon as Josh pushed him away from Maya, he stormed off, wandering off into the small collection of trees behind the freeway. Zay and Farkle exchanged worried looks, lasting barely a second before the two ran off after him, Farkle giving Smackle a quick, reassuring peck on the cheek before following after Zay.

The two boys found Lucas beating up a tree, kicking it as hard as he could, grunting angrily as he punched it several times, making bark fall off and giving him grazes and splinters across his knuckles. At the force, they just saw Lucas hit that tree, they thought "that had to hurt," they would be surprised if he hadn't broken his hand on top of the burns.

"Mate, come on," Zay tried to talk him around "the ambulances are here now, you need to get checked out."

Lucas stopped punching for a moment "And, Maya?" He asked, out of breath.

"She's alive." Zay nodded.

"Barely," Farkle added, Zay elbowing him in the side "oww," he complained "what was that f…" Farkle noticed Lucas had returned to the tree "ooh." He said in realisation.

"No," Lucas shook his head "it was MY fault," he said through gritted teeth "I should have been there for her."

"No, it wasn't," Farkle sighed sadly "Maya wouldn't have listened to any of us."

"Look," Zay took a risk, standing in between Lucas and the tree, Lucas stopped quickly, averting his punches "no one cares whose fault it was, the point is Maya needs us, ALL of us." He told his best friend firmly before preparing to walk away "now, are you coming or not?!" He raised his voice, still walking back towards the road as Lucas paused to think and ran to follow Farkle and Zay back to the crash.

* * *

By the time the boys had walked back, Riley was shaking. With fear, from the cold, she didn't know, she didn't care "No, let me see her!" She yelled again and again, watching over Josh's shoulder as Maya was intubated, that was exactly why Josh pulled Riley away, he didn't want her to see Maya like that, but she did.

"NO!" She screamed, dropping down to the floor in despair, Farkle quickly running to comfort her she thought they were hurting her, Josh knew that Maya would have had to be intubated but he didn't want Riley to know that "Riley, listen to me." Farkle spoke softly in Riley's ear as she cried into his shoulder, trying to draw her attention back to him as she continued to snivel and watch from afar.

Her eyes caught Farkle's and she just stared through him, afraid of what was going to happen to her best friend "They're helping her, okay?" He told her firmly. She looked over at them strapping Maya to a back slab as they prepared to take her to the ambulance, she already had tons of wires coming from her and she wasn't even at the hospital yet "Okay." She smiled the best she could, trying to assure him that she was okay now.

She stood up, wiping her eyes with her coat sleeve as she ran towards her parents, the three of them hugging one another as they cried; they had completely forgotten about the rest of the class. Fortunately, the paramedics hadn't, there were three ambulances in total, the first ambulance dealt with Maya, and Maya alone, the second ambulance was the truck driver and Lucas, and finally the third ambulance was slowly making its way through all the students; checking for any signs of injury or shock.

A paramedic tried to treat Lucas' burns, or at least put his, clearly broken, hand in a splint, but he refused, all he wanted to know was how Maya was.

They had always tried to stay strong for Riley when something bad happened to Maya; when she had an appendicitis, when she ran away and they didn't hear from her for a week, but this time was different, not only were they scared of losing Maya, but they were afraid they were losing Riley too, the moment Riley refused to go to her parents was when Cory and Topanga could no longer hold back their tears, maybe they would have stayed strong if Riley had come to them instead, or maybe not, maybe this was the time when they could no longer handle seeing Maya broken.

 **Author Note: Yes, this chapter's called "Smoke and Fire" I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist :)**

 **Oooh, did you enjoy it, do you think Maya is gonna be okay?**

 **Thanks for reading, please don't forget to review, I had such kind reviews the other day, it was so heart-warming to see. Although, I don't just want you to always tell me how much you're loving it, then I won't be a good writer, I'd like for you to tell me what you don't like about a certain part or how I've portrayed a character or something because then I can become a better writer for you and for myself, it's a win, win! :D**

 **To let me know, and also confuse everyone else, if you do leave a review and you have read right until the VERY end of this then leave the word "Peaches" somewhere in it lol :P**


	3. I'm Sorry

**Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets world, nor any of the characters used.**

"Please." Lucas looked into the nurses' eyes as she wrapped a bandage slowly around his burnt hands "Can I go and see her?"

"Sorry," the nurse looked up from his hand, a little confused "see who, Honey?" she glanced up at him quizzically "Look, I get it you've been in an accident, you're confused."

"I'm not confused!" Lucas raised his voice, pushing her away from him as he stood up from the bed. "I'm fine." He murmured under his breath, running his fingers through his hair as the nurse tried to gesture for him to sit down.

"Lucas, come on, just do what she tells you, okay?" Cory suddenly appeared in the doorway, his face solemn and his eyes still red and puffy, tear stains lining his cheeks, this wasn't anything like the Cory Matthews Lucas was used to. It was in that moment he realised Cory cared about Maya just as much as he does, why he would doubt that in the first place though.

"What are you doing here?" Lucas asked suspiciously, giving Cory daggers "I thought you'd all gone back to the ski lodge."

Cory sighed, edging slowly to Lucas "Can you give us a minute?" He asked her respectfully, noticing she was clearly eavesdropping, she was a young nurse, new to this game, he could tell she was just trying to do her job, much like any nurse, but he also sensed that she seemed a little afraid of Lucas.

"Where's Maya?" Was all Lucas said to Cory, he didn't care about the burns on his hands, he couldn't have even given one thought about his misshapen fingers, the only thing, or should I say, person, he cared about, right there and then, was Maya. He couldn't stop thinking about her, no matter how hard he tried, just, where was she in that hospital, she had to be somewhere, was she still breathing even? No, he couldn't think like that, surely someone would have told him if she had died, or maybe that was why Cory was here, why he was looking so anguished.

"Lucas," Cory began.

"I wanna see her." He demanded "Look," Lucas tried to reason "I'll do whatever you want, whatever that annoying nurse wants me to do,"

"Okay, good." Cory nodded.

"But not until I see Maya." He bargained

"Lucas, you can't see her at the moment, you know as well as I do that's not possible, her parents aren't even here yet." Cory tried explaining to him calmly, but Lucas was determined to anger him further.

"Shawn's not her dad." Lucas mumbled to himself.

"He's as good as." Cory sighed "Lucas, I want you to get your shit together, okay," Lucas was shocked, he'd never heard Cory cuss before, let alone to a high school student "none of this nonsense, not now, I'm here to pick you up and take you back to the lodge, once you get your hand bandaged we're leaving, that's the end of the conversation." He asserted to the young adult firmly.

"But what about, Maya?" Lucas pushed.

"I said that's the end of the conversation, Lucas." Cory stated, leaving the room and waiting outside on some spare chairs whilst the nurse went back in and fixed his hand up, Lucas now not uttering a word, he wasn't used to authority and he didn't like it.

How did he end up in this situation, his daughter and wife were at Mt Sun Lodge worrying themselves sick and Maya was in some hospital room, fighting for her life with no one she knows around her? But all he's doing, not comforting any of his family, but just trying to persuade a stubborn Lucas to accept treatment for his hands and come back to the ski lodge with him.

* * *

"Hey," Josh walked up to Lucas, who was just fiddling with his fingers, the non-broken ones anyway, on a bench in front of the fire "mind if I sit?"

"Be my guest," Lucas shrugged, moving up for Josh to sit down.

"I'm sorry about earlier, y'know, pushing you away." He started.

"It's cool." Lucas flickered a quick smile, but inside he was seething "I know you were just tryna' help her, she probably would have died without you, so….thank you."

"That's okay, it was no trouble," he laughed nervously "I mean I didn't exactly want her to die either, don't want that kinda blood on my hands if you know what I mean." Josh joked, perhaps at precisely the wrong time.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucas' eyes narrowed, suddenly feeling a fresh disliking for Josh he hadn't felt before. God, why did Maya always intensify his emotions so much, it didn't matter what it was, it could be the most, tiny, irrelevant thing but if it was hurting Maya, it would hurt him too.

"Look," Josh sensed Lucas' anger "I didn't mean anything by it, I just meant." He trailed off, deciding not to finish.

"No," Lucas raised his voice, pushing for an answer as he stood up from his stool, towering over Josh "you must have meant something by it, what did you mean?" He asked him calmly.

"I just meant…well," Josh gulped nervously as Lucas stood up "I wouldn't have cared AS much as you guys would have if she hadn't have made it, that's all."

"That's all?" Lucas asked threateningly, picking Josh up by his collar, preparing to punch him straight in the nose, but quickly being pulled off by Cory.

"Lucas, what are you doing?!" Cory exclaimed in horror, he had only just lectured him about precisely this kind of behaiviour 20 minutes ago. He was completely shocked, he had just walked in on his youngest brother above the ground, being held up by Lucas clenching a hold of his collar, his bandaged hand gripping tightly to the thin polyester material of Josh's shirt. Ironically, a lot how Maya usually likes to grab Lucas' shirt when she's trying to be intimidating towards him at just a little over 5 foot.

"He said he wouldn't have cared if Maya died." Lucas told him bluntly, releasing his grip on Josh as he heard Riley's voice from a close distance. Restraining himself from decking Josh there and then, he gave a full force punch to a small lamp perched precariously above the fireplace. Lucas didn't care that 4 out of 5 of his fingers were strapped up on his right hand and tightly bandgaged, didn't mean he couldn't make a fist.

How could Josh say that so straightforwardly? If Cory hadn't have turned up, Lucas was sure Josh would be unconscious right now.

"Josh," Cory looked at him suspiciously, could his brother really have said something like that, about a child as well "did you really say that about Maya?" He asked his younger brother, feeling intensely saddened if what Josh said was true.

"No." Josh tried to explain "I didn't mean it like that, I was just saying because I know her a lot less than you guys do, it wouldn't bother…"

"I think you've said enough, Josh." Topanga said firmly, her arms folded as she stood next to her daughter, the pair of them appearing from nowhere.

 **Author Note: So, worth the wait? Nah, probably not, if I'm honest, I'm really not happy with most of this chapter but I felt bad about not updating for over a month so I posted it anyway. Might rewrite it and post it again, so I'll let you know on my Facebook page if I do that.**

 **Also, I wanted to update AT LEAST one of my stories yesterday as it was Sabrina Carpenter's 18** **th** **Birthday but my stupid laptop broke so I'm currently borrowing my mum's laptop and fortunately had all my stories backed up on a USB. Anyway, I don't care if it's a day late, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SABRINA, she has turned into a beautiful, talented young woman and may she continue to grow.**

 **I REALLY want to update Girl Meets American Underground soon but I can't until I'm back on my own laptop so expect that in the next couple of weeks :)**

 **Finally, and I promise this is the last thing, well sort of lol, I can't believe GMW got officially cancelled but I'm still going to update my stories, as my friend said(DrDoom2006 BTW GREAT writer!) "GMW still lives on as long as we're writing stories about it :D xx**

 **BTW, and I know it was a long one, if you got to the end of this, firstly WELL DONE, but secondly include "honey" in your review so I know :D**

 **See you soon….well, hopefully,**

 **xx**


	4. Hope

**Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets world, nor any of the characters used.**

"Um, where's Riley?" Cory said, scanning the room for his daughter

"I saw her go out a while back." Josh looked up from his phone, shrugging.

"And you didn't think to stop her?" Lucas chimed in, earning a glare from Josh.

"She's not my responsibility." He said defensively, why was everyone against him all of a sudden, he'd saved a girl's life this afternoon and everyone was acting like he'd killed someone.

"She's your niece." Cory frowned.

"So?" Josh stood up "She aint a kid no more, Cory, time to stop treating her like one."

"She's 15!" Topanga raised her voice, overhearing the conversation as she came into the front room with some cheese sandwiches for everyone.

"Exactly what I'm saying, she's not a kid, for god sake, she'll be graduating in like 2 years and you can't even trust her to go for a walk by herself?"

"I'll go and find her." Cory sighed preparing to put his coat back on.

"Guess not." Josh chirped under his breath.

"I'll go." Farkle volunteered, grabbing his coat.

"You want me to come?" Smackle offered.

"No, it's okay, I've known Riley the longest, so it should be me to go and comfort her."

"What if we hear any news about Maya?" Smackle asked.

"Text me and I'll come back as quickly as I can, okay?"

"Okay." Smackle nodded, hugging him "Be careful, my love." He was the only one she really felt comfortable hugging, Maya and Riley had tried to teach her but she wasn't having any of it, which they were fine with of course, they were just happy Smackle was growing more comfortable in her own skin rather than trying to fit into a carbon copy of "normal".

"I will be fine, Isodora." He reciprocated her hug lovingly before vanishing out the door.

* * *

"There you are." He huffed, slightly out of breath from trekking up the hiking trail. He found Riley sitting against a tree, her coat wrapped tightly around her body with her hood up as she played with an amber coloured leaf. She watched from the high up cliff, observing how the river flowed through the mountains.

"I knew it'd be you." She smiled warmly, almost thawing the autumn frost with her radiant positivity of the world "come and sit with me," she patted the ground, gesturing for Farkle to join her in this odd moment of peace and clarity.

Farkle accepted her offer and sat down, shivering a little as the frost-bitten leaves brushed against his jeans "why's that?"

"I don't know," she sighed, breathing in the fresh mountain air, she wasn't anything like he'd been expecting to find, she actually seemed more calm than usual, she was usually so neurotic, so hyper and dramatic, but right now, she was just….calm, it was almost…..unsettling.

"Yes, you do." He nudged her gently, edging closer under the wide stretching canopy of the silver birch tree, and by extension, even closer to the brunette, they were so close they were almost touching.

"I don't know, you've just…..always been there for us, me and Maya, I mean."

"It's my job, you're my wives."

"Farkle, I'm being serious." She giggled a little nervously, looking directly at him, noticing baby wrinkles develop around his nose as he scrunched it up a little in the cold, that made her laugh a little more "I mean it, ever since we met you, you've always looked out for us."

"I didn't do a very good job of it today though did I, Maya got hurt."

"Farkle, you saved her, what are you talking about?" Riley wapped her arm around his shoulder, comforting him.

"No, I didn't." He stared at her, shaking his head "didn't you see, it was Lucas that carried her out, and Josh brought her back to life, all I was doing was stopping Lucas from killing a tree."

"What?"

"Nevermind." He sighed.

"Look, that doesn't matter, what matters is it was YOU who put the flames out in her jacket, you and Zay saved her life just as much as Lucas and Josh did."

"She still got injured though, I shouldn't have let it happen."

"She'll get better."

"How'd you know?"

"Because I have hope." She said softly, almost a whisper as the wind caught her breath "Don't you?"

"I'm not so sure anymore." He shrugged.

Riley sighed, unsure how to respond to that, even her with her sunshiny personality was struggling to hold onto hope, but she couldn't ever let it go, that hope, that was a part of her; a hope for the world to be better, a hope for people to be better, a hope for….she didn't even know how to finish that thought any longer, there was so much to hope for but so little left to give out.

They sat in silence for a while, just appreciating each other's company and the view ahead of them, Maya should have been enjoying this with them though, she would have loved a scene like this, probably would have drawn a really beautiful sketch of it as well, maybe they'll return together once she's better. Riley made a mental note to come back with everyone once Maya's well, Lucas, Zay, Smackle, the whole gang, maybe they could stay there over the holidays, that was a nice thought, although she doubted Maya would have recovered by Christmas, there was always next year though of course.

It almost felt like they were up so high that the world had just stopped for a little while, it was nice, it was good, relaxing even, and then that moment had to end.

Farkle's cell rang, they exchanged looks of mutual concern, knowing exactly who it was without even having to check the caller ID. He tried pushing the phone into Riley's hand but she refused, shaking her head quickly, Farkle conceded and answered the call before it could ring a third time.

"Hello?" Riley stared at him expectantly as she heard a voice on the other end of the phone murmur words back to Farkle, she guessed it was her father but it was so hard to concentrate on the conversation between Farkle and the caller when all she could hear was her own inner voice "is Maya okay, is Maya okay, where's Maya, what's happened, she has to be okay, she has to….."

Farkle swiped his phone up, turning the flashlight on, h couldn't believe it was night time already, how long had they been sat out there "We have to go." he offered his hand to Riley as he pulled her up from the soggy leaves.

"Is Maya okay?" She asked quickly, rummaging in her pocket for the travel sized flashlight connected to her house keys.

"Shawn's at the hospital…" Farkle started.

"That's good isn't it?" Riley flashed a smile, stepping up over a wide collection of exposed roots "she's no longer alone."

"She had a seizure." Riley's face fell and tears that she didn't even know had escaped started to roll down her cheeks "I don't really know fully what's happened, apparently Shawn's pretty angry at the doctors for only focusing on her visible injuries and not checking for head injury."

"Is she okay?" Riley asked.

"I don't know." He said solemnly, shining his flashlight on a wooden sign just off the side of the trail.

 **Author Note: Hey guys, OMG, I felt so nostalgic writing for this story again, I haven't touched this story in so long. To those of you who are still here, thank you so much!**

 **I'm really happy with this chapter but let me know what you thought by PMing me or reviewing, I'd love to hear your opinion!**

 **What did you think of Josh, do you agree with his points or is he more in the wrong, let me know!**

 **Don't forget to follow if you want to see more as we both know I haven't got anything close to an upload schedule lol**

 **If you got this far leave, hmmm, leave fall(as in Autumn) in your review lol :)**

 **See ya later…**

 **BubbleB98**

 **X**


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